Top silk taking on Centrelink over robo-debt recovery

Centrelink’s robo-debt recovery scheme was intended to seek out and destroy debts, but instead it’s thrown more than 200,000 Australians into financial turmoil.

Now, Victoria’s former head prosecutor, QC Gavin Silbert, is lending his voice and fighting back against the controversial system which aims to claw back up to $4.5 billion in welfare overpayments.

“I think it’s illegal and I think it’s scandalous. In any other situation, you’d call it theft. I think they’re bullying very vulnerable people,” Mr Silbert told A Current Affair.

QC Gavin Silbert is taking on Centrelink over its robo-debt recovery scheme. (A Current Affair)

“If debts are owed to the public purse they should be paid, they should be pursued. These are not such debts,” he said.

He’s teamed up with Melbourne-based solicitor Jeremy King to take a pro bono case to the Federal Court which, if successful, could derail the robo-debt scheme and see thousands of debts wiped.

“I hope this would set a precedent to show that the way this robo-debt scheme had been rolled out is not in accordance with the law and all of the other debts that have been sent out to people are not in accordance with the law,” Mr King said.

The robo-debt recovery scheme has thrown thousands of Australians into financial turmoil. (A Current Affair)

Teacher and mum-to-be Bethany Alice told A Current Affair that the one thing she’s not is a welfare cheat and the automated system makes hardworking Australians like her feel like a criminal.

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“I sort of feel like I am a fundamentally honest person. I didn’t believe I did anything wrong but suddenly I’ve got people saying I’ve done the wrong thing and I’ve got a debt to pay,” Ms Alice said.

“If I made a mistake, I’m happy to pay it. I’m not dishonest but I just want to know where the problem has come from and I want it explained in a way that sort of makes sense to me, which I don’t feel has happened yet.”

Bethany Alice said she was made to feel like a criminal. (A Current Affair)

A Current Affair also spoke with Gary, a single parent and machine operator who is accused of owing $12,000 in over-payments and who says the flawed system is treating him as guilty until proven innocent.

“I can’t afford this. The money that they’re asking for is a couple of years’ worth of the children’s school fees. I don’t have that to spare and to be basically labelled a ‘thief’ saying that I’ve purposely done it … when you say that to them they deny it. I’ve done nothing wrong,” he told reporter Tineka Everaardt.

Centrelink’s robo-debt program analyses someone’s income over one year then averages it over fortnightly periods, rather than discovering a person's actual income for each pay period.

Gary said he was being treated as guilty until proven innocent. (A Current Affair)

It’s argued that most debts calculated this way are greatly inflated and some are even false.

Michael was told he had a $3000 debt but after he appeared on A Current Affair last year and Centrelink reviewed his case the amount was brought down to just $50.

Centrelink said in a statement that a review by the Commonwealth Ombudsman found nothing wrong with the system, and that it was a reasonable and appropriate way to ask customers to explain data discrepancies.